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Her plan was slowly coming together. Tristan 2.0, who she found curled up next to the sleeping Conan, did in fact like applesauce. Even though technically she's supposed to be my dog, (Y/n) thought dryly. She likes Conan better. The betrayal. I named you well.

The real Tristan didn't understand why she needed to bring a dog with her to get a snack. She told him Tristan 2.0 was probably also getting hungry and she needed to feed him.

The whole time she stood in front of him making her excuses, her palms were sweating. She kept a blank look on her face even though underneath she was a nervous wreck. This wasn't going to be another one of her "let's make their lives harder!" whims. If he saw through it...he might carry out his earlier threat of harming the red-haired male.

Somehow he bought it. It did help that for once her stomach decided to growl on time. She went into the kitchen, aware of his dangerous gaze boring into her back. She first got a box of crackers from the pantry to make her ploy look believable. Then a random fruit from the bowl of them sitting on the island. And lastly, the most important item, the applesauce.

(Y/n) got out the largest container she could find and began pouring it into an equally large bowl. Tristan watched her movements with a cool stare.

"I wasn't aware you liked applesauce." He watched incredulously as she kept on pouring. "Even if you like something, it isn't healthy to eat too much of it."

She paid no mind to him and continued pouring it to the brim of the bowl. At this point, Tristan 2.0 had smelled the applesauce and was circling excitedly around her legs. Which was good. It meant she could very well "accidentally" trip and throw the bowl into Tristan and it wouldn't be her fault.

It was a good thing Tristan wasn't a natural canine repellant like Kieran was. Tristan 2.0 had no problem going near her namesake. (Y/n) bite back an evil grin and began balancing the plate of snacks and the bowl of applesauce in her arms as she turned around, ready to go back to her room. Tristan looked on in concern and stepped towards her.

"Let me help you with that—"

"Oh, OOPS!"

But before he could finish, (Y/n) immediately seized the opportunity and accidentally tripped over Tristan 2.0, sending the entire bowl of applesauce crashing into the real Tristan's clothes. Her falling over and cracking her head on his chest wasn't part of the plan, however. She should've accounted for her clumsiness.

Tristan sucked in a sharp breath as his elbow banged painfully against the kitchen floor. His surprise immediately dissolved into worry as he sat up and held her head in his hands. "Are you alright?" His crystal blue eyes searched her face for injury. When he found none, he let out a sigh of relief.

At the expense of her still-sore forehead, the plan had worked! For the most part, at least. Tristan 2.0 was a literal bundle of joy as she leaped onto the two, much to Tristan's dismay. The blue-haired male fought futilely to throw the puppy off him as it excitedly began lapping up the applesauce.

"Bad dog!" (Y/n) said, helping him in his efforts when really she was just trying to snag the key off his neck. "Down, girl! You can get applesauce later!"

"Get this creature off me!" Tristan hissed.

Tristan 2.0 ignored both of them, not budging in her attack. The dog liked applesauce so much it was willing to brave Tristan's wrath, apparently. But it did the trick. Some time in their "struggle," (Y/n) was able to steal the key and pocket it with sticky fingers while finally pulling the dog off him at the same time.

"This bowl's for you," she cooed as she poured a new bowl of applesauce for the dog. Good job, Tristan 2.0! She cheered internally. "You can't eat pop—uh, that guy, okay?"

Tristan 2.0 was more than happy to bury her snout into the bowl and leave the two humans to their business.

Tristan growled as he held his now dirtied shirt away from his skin with a disgusted look on his face. "There won't be a second time," he growled, glaring at the innocent white ball of fluff with a face full of applesauce. It barked at him enthusiastically in response.

"You should go get cleaned up now." (Y/n) began tugging him to his feet. The key seemed to burn through her pocket, trying to alert its owner of its presence. "Before Tristan 2.0 attacks you again, that is."

He accepted her hand but as she was pulling him up, his weight and the dirtied floor made her slip and come crashing down again. (Y/n) hissed as her head collided with something hard. What does the world have against my head?!

Without realizing it, (Y/n) had leaned so close that when she looked up, his stunned face was dangerously close to hers. Tristan's breathing stilled as he curled his hands around her arms.

"(Y/n)," he said huskily, his voice choked with strain. "I need you to get off me." He was holding himself motionlessly up in that half-sitting half-lying position with concentrated effort. But he didn't push her away. (Y/n) looked down and scrambled backward faster than she ever had in her life.

This wasn't good.

Tristan closed his eyes and let out a controlled exhale before he trusted himself to move. He pushed himself off the floor and to his feet. "I'll...be in my room," he said with his back to her as he rearranged his sticky clothes. "You should do the same. I'll come to see you when I finish your request."

And then he was gone, leaving behind a (h/c)-haired girl who was banging her head on the counter and regretting all her life decisions.

Well, at least she got the key. Now all she needed to do was contact June and get her to get rid of the second door on Reese's cell. (Y/n) would do it herself except it would be faster for June to do it since the other girl already began...and there was also the fact that her computer was in her old room.

On Leon the lock-o-manic's floor.

Fun.

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Leon looked up from his arm wrestle match with his little brother to hear a knock on his door. "Give me a sec," he told Conan as he pretended to struggle and then ultimately let his brother win. He got to his feet and opened the door. To his surprise, it was none other than the very person who had been on his mind this entire time.

He looked down at her in surprise. "(Y/n)?" Then he frowned. "You're not in your room."

"P—uh, Tristan told me to go back but I wanted to get some things from the old room," she nodded behind her. "But it's locked. Can you open it? Please?"

He didn't see anything wrong with that. "Yeah, give me a minute." Leon went back into the bedroom and swiped a ring of keys he kept hanging by the door. True to his word, he came back a minute later not before calling over his shoulder to his brother, "Don't destroy the room too much. Glitter is hard to clean out of carpets."

Conan gave him a toothy grin and waved at the (h/c)-haired girl. "I make no promises, big brother!"

Leon closed the door with a playful eye roll and turned back to (Y/n). "What things did you want?"

"Some stuff," she shrugged vaguely, making him furrow his brow in suspicion. "Okay, fine. My computer. I'm going to go crazy of boredom stuck 24/7 in that room."

"Fair enough." He unlocked her old room; everything had been left the way it was and stood guard at the entrance as she happily went inside and picked up the silver laptop, hugging it protectively to her chest.

"Thanks," she thanked him on her way out. He dipped his head in answer. When he made no move to leave her side, she shot him a curious look. "Don't tell me you're planning on escorting me back now, are you?"

Leon chuckled, securely shutting the door. "I forgot to bring a pumpkin carriage. Hope you don't mind."

"I do mind! I'm not a kid!"

"Last time we left you alone you locked yourself out on your balcony." His voice was filled with amusement. "Who knows what else you'd get yourself into?"

If only he knew. She thought of Tristan's stunned face with crooked glasses and covered in applesauce, and she almost burst out laughing. "Not Cambridge, that's for sure. It's not even summer yet and I missed out on like, what, a hundred homework assignments?"

"To be fair, the headmaster's still under the impression the Game is going on." Leon bit his lip. "It's only been a few days."

"So the headmaster doesn't have any way of knowing what happens in the Game?" She asked. "How was he able to report the deaths so quickly then?"

"Trackers," the tall male said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And the Seeker would report their time of kill to them. He already knows who's going to die and in what order from the start. He just needs a specific time."

"...Oh." That didn't make her feel any better. At least Leon wasn't as tight-lipped now. "So they also have a predetermined winner?"

Leon inclined his head. "Yeah. I think it was Howards this year. But, well, things didn't go as planned."

"Because he's dead now," (Y/n) said flatly without a trace of emotion in her face. Leon looked down at her in concern but she looked fine. There was nothing on her face; no hatred, satisfaction, remorse—nothing at all. If she was blaming the blond teacher for her friends' deaths, she was doing a good job of hiding it.

There was one thing he was able to catch from her eyes. A question. No doubt about one of her "friends," that was for sure. Leon hated when her attention was on them—why couldn't she see those "friends" of hers were the ones causing her all this pain? He didn't need them and she wouldn't either.

"Reynolds," he said with a sharp edge to his voice. "If you're wondering, I have no idea where he is. I've been making rounds around this place but I haven't found him."

A new piece of information, (Y/n) realized. Leon patrols the place at times and Jasper was either outside the dormitory or really good at hiding under their noses. If it was the latter...why hasn't he contacted her? The fact her former friend couldn't be bothered to see her or even let her know he was okay and not rotting at the bottom of a ditch made her chest constrict painfully.

They arrived at her new room on the fifth floor. Leon didn't protest in Tristan's decision that it would be here; her being on the topmost floor made it harder for her to escape and frankly speaking, Leon was fine with any floor as long as it wasn't Kieran's or worse, Jaehyun's.

Because if she fell into Kieran's grasp, at least she would come out in one piece.

"Z—Leon," she said suddenly, drawing his attention away from his broodings and to her. He nodded at her to continue. She looked uncertain of something. "Can I...ask you for a favor?"

Now that was unexpected. If she was going to ask something unreasonable of him, like not lock the door or let her see that Grayson guy, he would have to firmly decline. But he supposed he could amuse her for now. "Depends on what it is."

That seemed to be enough for her. She took in a deep breath and let it out. "If you see Jas—uh, Jasper, could you let me know?"

Leon blinked in surprise. He hadn't been expecting that. "You aren't getting any weird ideas, are you?"

"N-no!" She said hastily. "I just wanted to make sure he was okay since I haven't heard from him in a while. Please, Leon?"

His name dripped from her lips like honey. A softer part of him wanted to give in and grant her everything she wanted, and to spoil her like he spoiled Conan. But for the most part, he didn't like that idea at all.

Leon was used to being in danger. Worst case scenario, he's even stared into the face of Death itself, knocked on its door, and came back alive. He knew how a psychopath looked like even dressed in civilian clothes. He could tell the difference between a sociopath and a politician with a single glance. He's seen his fair share of the darker side of humanity, mothers who are willing to sell their families, fathers willing to drain the life out of another man's daughter, and monsters in human skin who'd kill, steal, extort, and kidnap for their own selfish gain.

And in Jasper's eyes, he had seen the familiar darkness that only a killer with nothing to lose would have. People with nothing to lose were the scariest of them all. That's why in history, mercenaries are highly sought after. They wanted money and were willing to die for it. Jasper wanted revenge and was willing to lose himself for it.

Leon couldn't protect his little sister from the monsters of humanity. But he could protect (Y/n) and Conan.

"No," he said firmly, leaving no room for argument. "You don't need to worry about things like that."

Disappointment flashed in her bright eyes but she didn't give up. "But I do! Jas isn't a stranger to me—obviously, I'd care about his well being!"

"He's alive and kicking, I'll let you know that." He clenched his jaw and swallowed his anger. "You don't have to concern yourself with the details. Go inside."

"If you know me, you'd know I'm pretty stubborn."

"Go inside," he said through gritted teeth, his voice tense with impatience. "It's for the best."

"There it is again." (Y/n) threw up her hands in frustration. "'For your own good.' Who are you to tell me what's best for me? Are you my keeper?"

Leon slammed his hand against the wall beside her head, making her flinch. "I've given you a choice already," he growled, anger scorching his silvery orbs. "And you've made all the wrong f*cking moves and put yourself in danger. I will not stand by and watch you walk the wrong path, (Y/n). I don't want to be rough with you but if force is what it takes for you to learn, then I will make you understand."

"What are you, a caveman? This is the twenty-first century! Women's rights, hello?"

"Rights are a privilege. One you won't be getting if you keep this sh*t up." He glared into her defiant (e/c) eyes. He loathed and loved how distractingly ethereal they were at times with the right lighting. One look his way often stole the breath from his lungs and weakened his resolve. She had an almost magical hold over him and he would not let her use that to her advantage.

"You have two choices." He refused to be the first to look away. "You can walk right in there and make things easier for both of us."

She crossed her arms and made no move to comply. "Or?"

"Or I will haul you over my shoulder and throw you in there myself. Make your choice."

"Choice?" (Y/n) coughed indignantly. "That contradicts with the very definition of choice. Two or more possibilities. I only see one."

"I did give you two and those are the only ones you'll get." His eyes flickered from her face and to her tensed stance, as if she was ready to bolt. "Don't even try to run. You know you can't outrun me."

Annoyance was written all over her face as she glowered at him. "Good thing I wasn't planning to," she seethed. "Fine. I'll go in. But can't you at least tell me when you see Jas next? It's not that big of a deal!"

It was but he doubted she'd understand even if he tried to explain it to her. And he was sure she wouldn't give up until he agreed so he settled for the next best response. "I'll give it some thought if you're willing to pay the price."

A baffled look appeared on her face. She hadn't been expecting him to say that. "Uh, a...price? What kind of price?"

He watched her carefully, watching her every movement and response. Hate bubbled up in his chest as his eyes landed on her neck and the unpleasant memory of her with Kieran in the library rose to the surface.

That hate was soon extinguished.

His eyes flattened into two dangerous slits. "What is that?"

(Y/n) looked up in surprise. "What is what?" But he ignored her, crossing the distance between them easily with a single long stride. He seized her chin in his hand and tipped it up to the side, exposing more of her neck.

It confirmed his suspicions—that faint blemish he had seen through the curtain of her hair wasn't his eyes playing tricks on him. His horror and rage only grew as he scanned the faint purplish-blue bruises on her skin. He didn't even notice her struggling and trying to get him to release his grip on her.

On her neck...those bruises were finger marks. And they hadn't been there before, but they looked old.

He pressed a finger to them, making her shiver. When he finally spoke, his voice was so gravelly and alien that not even he recognized it. "Who did this?" It was more of a statement than a question. He lifted his eyes from the bruises and to her eyes. She instinctively looked away and bit her lip. Guilt.

His other hand balled into a fist and shook with barely restrained anger. "I said, who did this?" He growled. He must've looked truly terrifying at that moment because she shrank back. Leon could see a reflection of himself in her eyes; silver eyes that had darkened to a gray which flashed with unconcealed murder, hellfire-hot rage etched into every plane of his face, and pure violence promised in his stiff form.

No...don't be scared of me.

The anger died down as the fear and alarm he saw in her eyes. In a calmer but terrifying voice, he choked his next words out with as little fury in them as he could muster. "Don't make me repeat myself, (Y/n). I'm trying to be as patient as I can right now. Who. Did. This?"

There was no way (Y/n) could tell him. How could she simply say it was the same person she was looking for? Then there was no way he was going to give her the information she needed. Even worse, Leon would go after him, and she had a pretty good idea of how it would go.

Badly. And that was lightly putting it.

"It..." Her voice came out hoarse and she winced at the sound. Her eyes trailed to his hand still wrapped around the back of her neck. His touch burned scald marks into her skin. "It's nothing important. I didn't get hurt or anything. Jay—"

"He did this?" The monster within raised its hackles and tore at his skin, wanting to get out.

"N-no!" The world exploded out of her like a bullet. She couldn't tell him Jasper but did it but she couldn't exactly lie about it either. That would make things messier. "No. It wasn't him. He has nothing to do with this."

Maybe that was the wrong answer. She could see the wheels turning in his head as he began to connect the thoughts. It was obvious it couldn't be Tristan—the male disliked doing that sort of dirty work himself—and strangulation was uncharacteristic of Kieran. The only one capable of doing so would be Jaehyun, but she herself said it wasn't him.

The realization crossed his face like a burning arrow. She saw the inferno before it came and knew she had to do something, anything, or Jasper was going to get it. He wouldn't make it out alive if she didn't act quickly. Maybe the navy blue-haired male could take on Jaehyun and Kieran, but a one-on-one fight with Leon was never a good decision.

So she did the first thing that came to mind. As Leon's face darkened with fury and an almost inhuman growl rumbled through his chest, she threw her arms around him before he could fly off in pursuit of the violet-eyed male. It might be a futile effort; how could she possibly hope to restrain a guy who was almost two times her size by herself?

She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for the impact. Maybe he'd rip her off him or easily shrug her away. But to her surprise, he did neither.

(Y/n) could feel his tense muscles under her arms as she did her best to hold him back. He was quiet, almost terrifyingly so. She couldn't see his face with hers pressed to his back. She hoped she had managed to stop him, even if it was just a little.

"Don't do anything," she found her voice to plead with him. "It's not what you think. It was a mistake. Please don't hurt him!"

Internally, she prayed that he would understand her. That her words would reach him. Like how he was so protective of his family, she was the same towards her friends. If even a little bit of that sentiment got to him...it would be enough to make him potentially reconsider his decision to render Jasper to a gravestone in the ground.

After a long moment of silence did she feel him finally move. He shifted in her hold and placed his hands on her wrists. She allowed him to pull her arms away and spin her around to face him, but she didn't dare to look up in fear of what she'd see.

"Look at me." His voice said, still hoarse with strain. When she didn't respond, he tipped her face up. She looked to the side. Anywhere but at him. A sigh escaped his lips as he brushed her hair away from her eyes. "Look at me, (Y/n). I'm not angry anymore."

Only then did she finally meet his metallic eyes. A gentle smile appeared on his face. "Finally you look at me." His face looked conflicted. "I'm sorry for scaring you. I don't want you to be scared of me but the idea that you've been hurt..." His gaze dipped back to her neck and he traced the fading bruises with the tips of his fingers before tugging her collar up higher to hide them. As if that would erase their presence.

"I won't get angry but you can't keep hiding things from me. Please tell me, (Y/n). Who did this to you?"

(Y/n) dropped her eyes and mutely shook her head. It was something she'd never tell him, no matter way. His expression tightened but he didn't press the issue any further.

"Fine," he sighed. "If you won't tell me, I'll find out another way. Come on." He led her gently into the room and left the door half-shut. "It's getting late. You need your rest."

"...I'm not a kid." (Y/n) watched him inspect the room with scowling eyes. "Go find your calling at a preschool."

"I don't like kids. Unless they're Connie."

She lifted her brows in surprise. "You? Not liking kids? Wait, are we still talking about you here?"

"Is that so surprising?" He said, bemused. "Just because I can tolerate Connie's antics doesn't automatically mean I like all those brats."

Her incredulous look didn't change. "You find your brother annoying?"

"Do you find your father annoying sometimes?"

"Point taken." She looked around. "Where is Conan anyway?"

"In our room." Leon issued a low curse under his breath. "Sh*t, it's past his bedtime. I need to put him to bed now." He walked to the door and stopped just before he left to give her a warning look. "No more tree climbing."

(Y/n) threw a pillow at him. "I don't need a babysitter, you twat!"

He grinned as he caught it easily with a hand and threw it back to her, hitting her square on the face. "Color me surprised. Night, (Y/n)."

She glared daggers into the closed door, her irritation growing at the mocking sound of the lock clicking into place. I hope he falls off his bed when he sleeps.

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A/N: I'm here to show off more amazing fanart :D I will be continuously displaying any fan art sent to me (unless they don't meed Wattpad media guidelines xD) in my chapters until this book ends. So here's the ones I received from zzCistheNamezz!